The bridges of Miami-Dade county

From its current base in Fort Lauderdale, each time Peregrinus goes to sea it has to ask six bridge tenders to open their bridges.  In the United States, river traffic has preference over road traffic.  The Admiral took this picture yesterday of the Miami River from the Metromover a few blocks from our home.

Miami Avenue Bridge open by request of  Qing, a 46-meter Cayman Islands boat that just a couple of months ago was known as Mazu.

Miami Avenue Bridge open by request of  Qing, a 46-meter Cayman Islands boat that just a couple of months ago was known as Mazu.

Don't wish for it, work for it

Self-reminder to the Admiral and the Seaman as they contemplate the long list of items still holding them from departing Miami.

View of the channel between North and South Bimini from the aft deck of  Peregrinus, 29 July 2013, iPhone S4, ISO 50 @ f/2.4

View of the channel between North and South Bimini from the aft deck of  Peregrinus, 29 July 2013, iPhone S4, ISO 50 @ f/2.4

Fourth of July

Boats jockeying for anchoring position immediately off of the Dodge Island Cut channel, right in front of Bayfront Park, west of Lummus Island Turning Basin.  

The photo is bisected by one of the backstays, a cable that helps support the mast.

Sunset view from the port-side stern of  Peregrinus, off of Miami, 4 July 2013

Sunset view from the port-side stern of  Peregrinus, off of Miami, 4 July 2013

On being courteous

When in a foreign country, it is customary, and often legally required, that the boat fly the local flag on the tallest mast.  And not just any local flag; one should use the civil ensign.  On this photo, Peregrinus flies the civil ensign of The Bahamas on the forward mast while docked last year in Bimini.  As The Bahamas is part of the British Commonwealth, the design of its civil ensign shares a legacy with the Red Duster that flies on the stern of Peregrinus.

Browns Marina, Bimini, 30 July 2013, iPhone 4S @ f/2.4, ISO 50

Browns Marina, Bimini, 30 July 2013, iPhone 4S @ f/2.4, ISO 50

It's not just all fun and games

There's plenty of unpaid work to go around.  The Seaman looking at issues with the AirPort extender (or, WiFi, as they call it some places), 3 March 2014.

Peregrinus mizzen.JPG

All is unlikely to be lost

All-Is-Lost-17-mins-0-secs.jpg

Back in November, we went to the cinema to watch Robert Redford's All Is Lost.  Spoilers ahead, so watch the movie on Amazon online, Netflix DVD or Redbox DVD and then come back.

This is a fine movie, but let's count some of the ways that this plot is unlikely to take place in Peregrinus:

  1. Containers do not hit you on the sides, taking out your electronics.  The boat hits containers, with the bow, as the boat is moving while the containers are relatively static.  If Peregrinus withstands a hit, then we'll most likely be OK.  If Peregrinus does not, then we may very well sink in seconds.  By the way, forward-looking-sonar is something we want for the boat, has existed from niche manufacturers for a few years in fidgety or expensive ways, and the guys at Navico/B&G who made most of our electronics are coming with a product in mid-2014.  So we might get one.
  2. Apparently Redford has only one radio on board.  Peregrinus has (1) one fixed VHF radio, (2) one SSB radio, (3,4) two VHF portable radios, (5) one satellite bi-directional paging system, and (6) one satellite phone.  
  3. Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon, EPIRB.  There is one sealed inside Peregrinus' life raft and Peregrinus itself has a second EPIRB satellite radio beacon right by the staircase (companionway).  If Redford had an EPIRB, the movie would have been about 40 minutes long.
  4. Redford finds himself lost and commendably uses a sextant to determine his approximate location.  Peregrinus has three fixed GPS.  The main one works with US-provided GPS, plus Russian GLONASS, plus is European Galileo-ready, plus is Japanese QZSS-ready).  There are GPS in each of the two portable VHF radios.  One in a watch.  Four in the iPhones and iPads.  One in the satellite phone.  One in a camera.  In total, there are five serious GPS devices plus six in the toys.  Three are waterproof.
  5. Flooded boat: any sailor's nightmare.  Saltwater destroys everything, including electronics, batteries, generators, etc.  Peregrinus features six watertight compartments: the full-beam forward and aft lockers are fully isolated; the forward and aft cabin are isolable via "submarine doors"; the engine room is sealed-in; and if everything else is shut, then the main cabin is also isolated.  There are two very large electric pumps to evacuate any water that works its way in, one (fixed) manual emergency pump, and one portable large-volume diaphragm hand-pump.

There are countless ways to come to grief while in the water.  Hopefully we will be prepared for the most likely scenarios.  

Then again, there is always a chance we get run over by a bus before we even depart!  One needs be stoic in the face of such potential tribulations.